Do you know that there was an era when Sri Lanka was not an automatic choice at the world cup and either they were either invited by ones grace or else they had to fight it out with the other minnows in the cricketing world to get their rightful place? We are about to tread on a story which unfolded thirty two years ago when the entire cricketing world knew very little about limited overs cricket and what an impact that it would finally have on the game.

In an interview with a Daily Paper a few months ago, Abu Fuard had mentioned that dedicated personalities like Nisal Senaratne, Neil Perera, S.S. Perera, Shelley Wickremasinghe and a few others who had helped Sri Lanka Cricket in many ways are forgotten today. This is an understatement, and I would add a few others to this list. Raheman Hathy, Dennis Hapugala, S Pathmanathan and in more recent times S. Skandakumar are among the forgotten men. Abu Fuard himself, at best a controversial figure, who was not afraid to call ' a spade a spade ' sometimes at the wrong time and place, did yeomen service to Sri Lanka Cricket at a time when Cricket in this country was in the doldrums. I was the Hony. Secretary of the BCCSL during the period 1973 to 1976 when Robert Senanayake was the President.

Finally it seems that the AASL is going ahead with the inquiry against Sri Lanka’s infamous female athlete Jani Chathurangi de Silva on dope charges.At a special general meeting of the AASL held on Friday, its General Secretary Maj. General Palitha Fernando revealed that he was in possession of a document that Jani had admitted taking the performance enhancing drug Nandrelone. Meanwhile AASL’s President Derwin Perera making a statement to The Sunday Times admitted that its secretary had made a statement to this regard and they intend going ahead with the inquiry against Jani Chathurangi de Silva.

They say truth is stranger than fiction. This was the case at the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Association Annual General Meeting held at the Sugathadasa Sports Hotel yesterday. Chaos reigned as voting was called for the post of Secretary. The incumbent secretary Kumar Rodrigo stepped down and two candidates were nominated for the post.